Bloomfield Municipal Building to reopen for drop-off only

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — As the state gradually starts the process of reopening, the township of Bloomfield has begun making accommodations for businesses and residents to drop off documents at the municipal building, beginning May 18. Non-essential construction will also be permitted to resume effective May 18 as all COVID-19 safety procedures can be followed.

“Construction projects and non-essential retail businesses will start to resume operations and Town Hall will be partially opened as we slowly get back to normal,” Mayor Michael Venezia said. “In both cases, safety procedures implemented for COVID-19 must be followed so that we do not risk further spreading the virus. We want to keep everyone safe and continue to flatten the curve as we restart our local economy.”

Previously, residents or businesses had to drop off documents at the police headquarters.

“With the return of municipal employees to their offices, we are able to accommodate drop off at the municipal building directly,” Venezia said.

Visits to Town Hall should be restricted to essential reasons only. This includes drop-offs of any document, permits, tax/water payments or a request that needs to be submitted to any Town Hall department. No one will be allowed in Town Hall without a mask and no office visits will be allowed.

Venezia also announced that non-essential retail businesses are now allowed to reopen and the township will designate areas for curbside pickup in order to assist local businesses in reopening. Curbside pickup will be limited to 15 minutes and businesses that open for curbside pickup will have to abide by all social distancing rules previously established for COVID-19.

“After learning of the new executive order signed by Gov. Murphy, I instructed our various departments to make preparations to ensure that this partial reopening goes as smoothly as possible for our small businesses and residents,” Venezia said. “Our small business community has been hurt greatly by this crisis and for them to now have the ability to be open for curbside pickup will be a great help. I encourage Bloomfield residents to support these businesses by shopping locally when they are allowed to open.”